It's been a rum old time for everyone. Here at Works Social we’ve missed our members and the buzz of being together behind our big yellow door 💛. It’s been great to see members keeping the vibe alive at our virtual community lunches, toasting with our favourites tipples at after Works Socials or getting quizzical with us via Zoom but you can't beat those impromptu face-to-face interactions that working from a coworking space promotes, be it for for inspiration, support, collaboration or celebration.

While we’ve been open to members throughout the whole period of lockdown, government regulations, protecting family and friends and social distancing demands have prevented anyone making best use of the space. As lockdown measures start to lift and the business community begins to get back on track, the Works Social team has been busy behind the scenes making sure everything is spick and span and there are procedures in place for a safe and socially distanced return to our coworking community.

Here’s a quick Q&A with the Works Social team about how we've adapted since Lockdown:

Is Works Social open?

We’re currently open for member-only access. Throughout June/July, will be remaining closed for visitors and public events but are maintaining a membership waiting list and taking no obligation micro-event bookings for the future. We will be reassessing our policy on visitors and public events based on the government guidelines from 23 July.

What measures have you put in place to ensure social distancing can be adhered to?

For our dedicated desk members, we have implemented 2 metre safe distance desks and markings to help members stay at a (Works) social safe distance. We have rejigged things so that no one is working opposite each other and if side by side, they are at a safe distance.

We’ve also implemented:

• a 1 in 1 out kitchen policy
• a 4 person meeting room limit
• and prominent posters reminding members to keep safe distance, wash hands and desks regularly, make meetings virtual where possible and importantly, say if something is not OK.

For our flexible desk members, we have upgraded the functionality of our member portal to enable members to book hot desks ahead of time so if they know they will be coming in, they can book their preferred bench desk or pod and others will know it’s reserved for them. Hygiene products are in place at each workstation to enable users to self-sanitise the workspace before and after using.

What hygiene measures are in place?

We provide anti-bacterial hand gel, anti-bacterial hand-wash and environmentally friendly sanitiser, blue roll and tissue disposal located at check-in, all bathroom and kitchens and every print station on each floor to enable members to easily self-sanitise effectively.

‘Touch-free’ switches have been installed in the bathroom and kitchen areas and we have developed the functionality of our on-site member app to allow members to ‘check-in’ and out of the building using their own mobiles rather than a signing in book.

We have also increased our professional cleaning schedule with social enterprise Radiant Cleaners, to ensure all communal areas and high touch points are kept spick and span!

Whilst perspex is in short supply and to avoid the environmental burden of more plastic, we have not installed screens for now but should social distancing remain the norm, we will look into solutions to re-establish face to face workspace.

How are you making this sustainable?

Here at Works Social, sustainability is really important to us. We run on green energy, use motion sensor LED lighting, boiling hot water taps, recycled and zero waste office supplies where possible and most recently, installed a wormery ensuring typical office kitchen waste is repurposed into nutrient rich compost for our office greenery - they’re pretty hungry at the moment 🐛 and looking forward to their coworkers returning :)

We took this downtime as a great opportunity to reassess the sustainability of our hygiene products and have replaced all cleaning products with hypoallergenic, environmentally responsible and ethically sound alternatives throughout.

What happens next?

Our next biggest opportunity is how we can best help individuals and businesses new to the concept of flexible working, adapt how we can service the needs of the remote worker more widely. Watch this space…Sign up here to be kept in the loop with all the scoop from Works Social